Building a PC

[Awqa Puriq]

I was thinking of building a PC with the following components, i just wanted to make sure they are all gonna match each other and all the components will work and connect with no problems. I'm open to suggestions.

-Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor
-Kingston HyperX T1 Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2000
-ASUS Rampage II Extreme LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
-HITACHI Deskstar HD31000 IDK/7K (0S00163) 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
-EVGA Model 017-P3-1295-AR CO-OP Edition GeForce GTX 295 1792MB 896 (448 x 2)-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 SLI Support Quad SLI
-LG WH08LS20
-XION Power Real XON-1100P14HE 1100W ATX 12V v2.2 / EPS 12V v2.91 / SSI 2.92 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Power Supply
-Antec Six Hundred Black / Silver ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
-I'm also planning to put four 120mm blue fans
-OS will be Windows 7 64-bit

So would the pieces match or would i maybe experience trouble with some pieces, maybe fitting them into the case?

[Top-Tier-Tech]

I went with 1600Mhz DDR3 because 2000Mhz only gives you a 2-4% performance boost and it costs alot more, better off spending the money on extra RAM. You don't need a 1,100 watt PSU, a 750watt would be overkill, even if you did want to get such a high wattage PSU that is a very poor choice, it has 6 rails, high quality PSU's have 1 or 2 rails, you never want to buy a cheap PSU on a good system like that. Antec, Corsair and OCZ make good ones. And although I prefer Nvidia graphics cards I'd recommend a 5870, it uses less power, has the same performance and costs $100 less. Otherwise looks good.

[Awqa Puriq]

Ok i'll go with the 1600 then, i could use some money saved. Reason why i want a 1100W power supply is because i have another GTX295 that i plan to put into the desktop and use it in SLI mode and although i wanted the 5870 at first i wanted SLI mode on so i just went with another GTX 295, plus i got a good price on it on eBay. I guess i should change the power supply, any you recommend?

[Top-Tier-Tech]

I use the Corsair 1,000 watt PSU on my rig, it has only 2 rails (single rail PSU's can cost $400+) It has more than enough power for two GTX295's. Newegg has it for $230 after MIR and Amazon.com has it for $215 after MIR. This PSU is semi-modular so you only have to hook up the connections that you are using on your computer. It comes with a 5 year warranty.

[Awqa Puriq]

Ok so i'll switch between both to the one you recommended, the corsair does look nice and by what you posted it'll be pretty good. Could you explain what you mean by rails, i don't know mch about power supplies.

[Freddie]

You could save yourself a packet by buying the brand new Core i7 930 rather then the expensive 950, the difference in clockrates is only 9% yet you paying around about 100% more for the extra clockspeeds.

The GTX295 is a fast card and is 10.5" (267 mm) long and you case can hold up to 11.5" (292mm) long video cards so it won't hold for the Radeon HD5970 which comes in at 12.25" (315mm) long so bear this in mind if you want to upgrade in the future as typically top end cards get longer not shorter and the only time they get shorter is when there's a new manufacturing process or new PCB design. The other problem you might have is hunting down an EVGA GTX295, here in the UK it's very hard to get a hold of any decent top end Nvidia products from a good board partner like EVGA and the products they do have out represent poor value for money.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

The number of amps each rail can supply on PSU's with 4+ rails is typically 20, which makes the power supply overall inefficient, for example if one 12V 20A rail is used for the CPU there isn't enough amps left for the power to be used elsewhere, so it ends up wasted. In essence a PSU with 2 rails is two 500watt PSU's. A 1,100 watt PSU with six rails is going to be something like 4, 150watt and 2, 250watt PSU's, so in that case you use one of the 250watt rails on your CPU and even though it only uses 125 of those watts the rest cannot be used for other components, the ideal solution is a single rail PSU the total wattage is distributed to whatever the draw is from each component. Multiple rails also mean you have a higher chance of one of them failing (6 rails any of which failing means PSU fails vs a single rail)

You get what you pay for, a cheap PSU made with cheap parts may fluctuate in the amps and voltage it is supplying causing computer problems, this is especially relevant to gaming rigs and overclocking. Someone else could prolly describe it better but that's my general understanding.

You could save yourself a packet by buying the brand new Core i7 930 rather then the expensive 950, the difference in clockrates is only 9% yet you paying around about 100% more for the extra clockspeeds.

Agreed, the two CPU's are identical save for the clockrates, you can always overclock your CPU if you want it to be faster.

[mrmouth]

Six rails? Why would they do that?

You might as well go with a larger case...

If you like Antec, the twelve hundred is always highly recommended. And you can also run the Antec CPX form factor power supplies. The CP-850 is a phenomenal PSU, which will run two 5870's no problem. They also make a CP-1000 now, which is only $150!

[Top-Tier-Tech]

If you like Antec, the twelve hundred is always highly recommended. And you can also run the Antec CPX form factor power supplies. The CP-850 is a phenomenal PSU, which will run two 5870's no problem. They also make a CP-1000 now, which is only $150!

The Antec 1200 does not support CPX form factor PSU's only (2 or 3?) cases do.

[Roman_Man#3]

Yea, and the 1200 is one of them. I have the CP850 in mine.

Also, the rails don't each take 150w for themselves, the wattage is distributed between all the rails, its the amps that are divided between them. That's why it says the max load for the 12v1 + 12v2 + 12v3+ 12v4 is 768w, not 190 for each. Don't get too uptight about getting a PSU with 1 rail over one with 2+, there is really no difference between them performance wise. Unless your running a massive SLI or Crossfire rig, then the whole debate is a non issue and you have other things to be worrying about other than the amount of rails your PSU has. See this for more info.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

Yea, and the 1200 is one of them. I have the CP850 in mine.

Also, the rails don't each take 150w for themselves, the wattage is distributed between all the rails, its the amps that are divided between them. That's why it says the max load for the 12v1 + 12v2 + 12v3+ 12v4 is 768w, not 190 for each.

How the heck would a CP850 fit in an Antec 1200? the PSU bracket is the wrong size, it's the standard PSU size, not to mention it's too tall it would block PCI slots.

I had read that the rails amps separated a certain number of watts from use if the amps from a certain rail couldn't be fully used, and that's why single rails are the most efficient and stable. Perhaps that was partly wrong.

[Roman_Man#3]

How the heck would a CP850 fit in an Antec 1200? the PSU bracket is the wrong size, it's the standard PSU size, not to mention it's too tall it would block PCI slots.

Check this picture. See around the ATX bracket there are those squiggly lines, and then the 4 thumbscrews that form a larger square beyond those of the ATX bracket? That plate comes off and the CP850 fits in there.

This is one.

[GasMask]

GTX 295 is usless overpriced and dies quickly to much heat go ATi 5870+.

[HansDuet]

Nah, its a quality card but overpriced compared to current Radeon competition.

[Top-Tier-Tech]

Wow, amazing, I never noticed that before. I guess that would work fine with a regular motherboard, mine being E-ATX woudn't work with CPX PSU's, not only would it block the ability to stick a dual slot card in the bottom but the board itself overlaps just beyond that plate.

[Brofessional]

I'd say ATI currently has the edge in GPUs, I'd suggest a 5850 or 5870